


Quiet Proof

by Jesi_Ki_Kage



Category: Captain Marvel (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, Light Angst, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates, light fluff too, series of One-shots, these two are so soft for each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2019-11-28 02:12:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18202109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jesi_Ki_Kage/pseuds/Jesi_Ki_Kage
Summary: Maybe it was a compass on the back of her hand.Maybe it was a distance tracker on the inside of her wrist.Maybe it was a symbol on her rib cage or a quote running down her thigh.Maybe it was just the quiet static in the back of her mind; the static of a channel out of tune, out of range but still there, still broadcasting.Maybe it was any one of these.Maybe it was none of them.Whatever it was, Maria knew it was true. Way down deep inside she knew. Carol was too stubborn to die. Their soulbond still working was the quiet proof.





	1. Dreaming of Far Far Away

**Author's Note:**

> Because clearly I needed _another_ fandom to steal my creative juices. This movie is totally worth it though.
> 
> Series of soulmate AU one-shots. Currently have an outline for 5 chapters and premises for two more. Chapter count may change though. Prompts welcome so long as they are soulmate AU ones since that's my jam.

* * *

Chapter 1: Dreaming of Far Far Away

They told her Carol was dead. But if Carol was dead the dreams would have stopped. If Carol was dead why did Maria still go to their place every night instead of regular dreams? If Carol was dead there would be no option to dream share with her.

For the first month Maria didn't believe them because while she saw nothing passively, active sharing still worked. Even if she saw nothing there as well.

Then one night she active shared and Carol was there.

Except she wasn't Carol.

Maria had rushed over to her, words of relief and elation and wonder spilling from her lips only to be met with emptiness. A blank face. No recognition. She didn't even know what dream sharing was.

The active dream ended quickly after.

From that night on Maria started getting snippets of passive dreams. But Maria couldn't control what she saw in those or when. Just knew that when their sleep alignment was off, out of sync, the bond would send bits of their day to each other. Some considered it a way to make up for when you couldn't active dream share with your soulmate or mates.

Maria considered it a bad addiction the more she learned about Carol's new life.

About Vers’ life.

About aliens and memory loss and blue blood.

Every passive dream showed her bits of Carol, bits of her soulmate. Those little moments seen in dreams were a breath of fresh air, a euphoric high. Only for her to crash right back down as those same dreams show her their new reality.

One of glowing hands and war and separation.

The next time they active shared it was unintentional on Maria's part. She knew she'd caused it because she was confident Vers didn't know how. That was how she found out they were wiping Carol's memories.

Vers hadn't remembered their first conversation.

They hadn’t even left Vers with a warning.

Instead it was like a broken record of the first time. Vers not knowing what was happening, who Maria was. So Maria tried to explain. Calmly, in a way she thought would make sense to the amnesic woman who shared her dreams.

She was wrong.

The third time Vers came into an active dream with no memory of the previous ones, Maria was prepared. Maria was resigned. Maria knew to stop trying. Maria now knew what happened to Carol during those memories wipes. Carol - Vers - may not remember them, but the passive dreams showed her exactly what happened to her soulmate.

Maria accepted that while Carol was alive, she had gone well out of Maria’s reach for now.

The best she could hope for was that Vers would learn some of Carol's life through their passive dreams. And maybe, just maybe, be able to hold onto the pieces long enough to bring Carol back.

* * *

Maria stood paralyzed, helpless as she watched them grab Carol's unconscious body and begin to drag her away. The Tesseract was passed from the woman to the man who haunted Maria’s passive dreams. Yon-Rogg, the very man who had stolen Carol away six years ago stood before her, now taking Carol once again.

It was her living nightmare.

Maria didn't struggle when they slapped the cuffs on her.

She did struggle when they tried to lead her down a different hallway than Carol.

Yon-Rogg looked back from where he followed Carol. She was never certain how much he knew of Carol's dreams, of their bond, but clearly he knew enough. When he looked at Maria in that instant, it was like he saw her for the first time.

For a heartbeat, Maria wished she hadn't drawn attention to herself.

“Wait.”

His voice was firm, even as his gaze flicked between the slumped form of Carol and the hunched over form of Maria, panting from where she'd been hit in the solar plexus. The sharp edge his gaze gained sent a shiver down her spine.

“So you're the one who's been in her head this entire time.”

Maria spat at his feet. It was a pity he was too far away for it to reach him. As it was, Maria was willing to take another beating, do anything, if it meant wiping that possessive look off his face when he looked back at Carol.

“Bring her too. The Supreme Intelligence will want to study how their bond works.”

Maria straightened up as he turned and grabbed one of Carol's arms, sending the guard back to walk with her. A gun muzzle against her back reminded Maria of the guard she'd tried to break free from. With a glare over her shoulder she began to follow.

She tried not to think about the look Fury sent her, when her glare brought him back into her line of sight.

* * *

The guards led them to a small square room with a circular platform in the center. They unceremoniously dragged Carol's limp form onto it, stopping when her knees and feet were both inside the pad before turning her to face the door. Then, they leaned her back on her heels. Maria watched with horror as little vein-like things emerged from the pad and begin climbing up Carol's body until they practically covered her form.

A push from behind had Maria moving out of the doorway she had frozen in. She went to walk around the side of the room, but stopped when a hand grabbed her arm and yanked her back. The guard forced her to her knees in front of Carol. Now she mirrored Carol's position, the difference being that Maria's hands were bound behind her back, while the wire like substance held Carol's in her lap.

“Whatever hold you have over her won't matter now. After the Supreme Intelligence finishes with her, you're next.”

Yon-Rogg's voice from beside her startled Maria from continuing to gape at whatever was happening to Carol. The insinuation that the wire vein things were somehow more than just holding Carol in place chilled Maria much more than any other revelation she'd had in the last 24 hours.

None of her passive dreams had shown her the Supreme Intelligence, or how it interacted with the Kree.

* * *

When Carol’s hands started glowing, a bit of hope surged up in Maria's throat. She didn't dare voice it though. Not yet, not now. Especially not when the light kept flickering for the first few moments.

Then, Carol moved.

Carol shifted onto her knees, hands raising further in front of her. Reaching out. Reaching towards Maria.

Power flickered. Maria's cuffs fell to the floor, useless. The two guns pointed at her head and the two pointed at Carol’s kept Maria from moving. They didn't stop Carol from moving.

The glow began to cover more of Carol's body.

The veins began to strain and break.

The guards began to fidget.

It was over in a flash.

It already hurt to look at Carol when only a faint glow was coming from her, so when her entire body became a glowing beacon? It didn't matter if Maria closed her eyes or not, the light still seared her retina. Not that the lack of vision had prevented her from hearing four thuds echo around her, or even her being pushed back slightly till her heels hit the door.

Soft fingertips brushed her cheeks, as Maria tried to rapidly clear her vision.

The first thing she saw was more light. For a moment, Maria was worried her vision had been permanently damaged. Then, colors and shapes began to swim into view, and she realized she was simply staring at Carol's glowing chest.

“Carol?”

The fingertips were gentle against her cheeks. An anchor for them both, Maria suspected, as her vision continued to clear and she discovered Carol was legitimately hovering in the air in front of her.

“I'm here, Maria. I'm here.”

“Oh. Good.”

A sound from her right had Maria flinching away. She need not have worried, though, as another flare of light caused a grunt to escape Yon-Rogg. Before Maria was able to clear her vision again, strong arms were carefully moving her, shifting her until she was being pulled to her feet, most of her weight being carried by the hovering hero.

“Let's go find Fury.”

Maria nodded against Carol, shifting consciously so that her body angle more aligned with the other woman's. The Tesseract was shoved into her free hand, and then they were off. Carol didn't set her down until after she'd lost the hover. After she'd blasted the guards standing over Fury with one hand.

Maria was sorry to watch her go, but she had to admit the plan was good.

It was Maria's turn to fly the plane when lives were at stake.

**_~fin~_ **


	2. The Distance of Lightspeed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They had taken her memory.
> 
> Staring at the distance tracker on her own wrist, Maria was willing to bet they had taken a lot more than that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short little piece but felt like putting the next chapter up. Hopefully it'll get me to finish the last three chapters I'm still working on.

* * *

Chapter 2: The Distance of Lightspeed

  

Maria tried and tried and tried not to stare at her wrist for the entirety of the day. It got to the point where she had to cover it up, something she normally didn’t bother with unless she was traveling. Something she never did at home, not unless there were strangers over.

When the sounds of wind in the trees and engines overhead reached her, she barely dared to breath. It was only the years of muscle memory that had her begin the process of cleaning her tools, only the ingrained instinct of spending 11 years raising her that was able to get Monica to help, to keep her close.

The sound of engines cut off.

Soft footsteps in the grass, barely noticeable over the sounds of nature. Monica hovered nearby, waiting. Her girl was too smart for her own good. She had noticed the bracelet around Maria’s wrist the moment she’s gotten home.

“Are you Maria Rambeau?”  
  
Oh.

Oh, that voice hadn’t changed, although there was an unfamiliar quality to it. A hesitance that bespoke unfamiliarity.

Maria turned, hope growing even as doubt began to churn in her stomach.

Monica had no such hesitations, but the words that came next - the lost look, the wide eyes - all confirmed that Maria had every reason to be worried.

“I’m- I’m not who you think I am.”

* * *

Five steps.

Maria stared at the number on her wrist for a long moment as the words Carol - Vers - _Carol damn it_ , said danced in circles around her mind.

They had taken her memory.  
  
Staring at the distance tracker on her own wrist, Maria was willing to bet they had taken a lot more than that.

 

* * *

Maria hadn’t wanted to be right.

But the thick, white, and somehow perfectly formed scar across Carol’s wrist exactly where her own distance tracker should have been, told Maria everything she needed to know.

They had tried to erase their bond.

They might have even succeeded, if the aliens who took Carol had known anything about human soulmates, and decided that Maria was a loose end.

Watching as Carol continued to glance at pictures - at memories - with a glazed look in her eyes, before blinking rapidly and looking at something else, Maria couldn’t help the chilled feeling that the alien’s would have been smart to kill her, if they’d known just what the numbers on their wrists meant.

What they could mean, at least.

This new Carol had yet to ask about it at all. The old Carol had never gotten up the courage to make it official. There was a reason she was still Auntie Carol to Monica, after all. The cold feeling in Maria's gut as the green skinned aliens introduced themselves told Maria she'd likely be staying as Auntie Carol too.

* * *

The entire time they were in the lab Maria couldn't help but keep glancing at her wrist. Checking and double checking that Carol was still within a distance reasonable for the ship. That she hadn't been taken again. That the symbol Maria has come to call the galaxy symbol was still absent.

Maria's heart had lept into her throat when they'd knocked Carol out and taken her away. She'd been distracted to the point of Fury having to step in and remind her of the Skrull lives at stake as they walked. Otherwise, she was too focused on watching the distance increase for the first time since they'd been reunited.

If she hadn't been in the middle of a fight for her life when the numbers ticked back down, Maria is certain she would have breathed a sigh of relief.

She most certainly did once they landed.

Once the Skrull were safely off loaded from the quad jet. Once Fury was supervising with Monica to help fetch things. Once she'd explained as best she could to her parents, and when they didn't believe her, showed them her wrist.

Showed them the number representing the distance between them rapidly ticking down closer and closer and closer to zero.

Maria let out a sigh of relief the moment that streak of light appeared on the horizon.

The moment Carol touched down in front of her, Maria knew it would be okay. Even if Carol could no longer see or use her tracker anymore, they would be okay.

Carol's hand tentatively reached for hers. Fingers brushed ever so gently over her mark and Maria sighed in relief.

It wasn't perfect, but it was something.

Answers to questions and knowledge to better prepare for the future.

* * *

The next morning Maria watched her soar away. Watched until she couldn’t see even that streak of light anymore. Then, she glanced down at her wrist and watched as the distance grew, as the units ticked up to a number that she hadn’t seen since Carol’s return to Earth.

Closing her eyes she took a deep breath, let it out, and lowered her arm. It would no longer do any good to watch it.

One day, it would return to zero. Until then, Maria just had to wait.

It was something she had plenty of practice in doing.

**_~fin~_ **


	3. Static From Outer Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It didn’t take very long for little Maria to go to her parents about her dreams and learn what they meant.
> 
> A soulmate.
> 
> Her soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another super short piece. A different take on the soulmate dreams.
> 
> Technically I could continue this one to do an after/during, however, I feel the nature of this bond wouldn't really change much of the canon events so I decided not to.
> 
> As always feel free to message me @standinshadowedsilence.

* * *

Chapter 3: Static from Outer Space

For as long as she could remember Maria had had the dreams.

Everyone knew what soulmates were. Everyone had a bond in some form - although humanity had mostly given up trying to predict which type of bond would be given to which human. Just as the majority of society accepted that some bonds were platonic, some were between any combination of gender known to humankind, and some were between more than two people.

History showed there would always be some people who thought one type of bond, or only a certain makeup of bond, was superior to all the rest. For the most part, though, no one really paid much mind to other people's soulbonds, beyond the mandatory registration of them, once the bond had manifested in some way.

Maria’s were dreams.

Dreams of someone else’s life.

They came in fragments, as most dreams do. Short snippets and bursts, intermingled with normal dreams. Sometimes, Maria could remember every detail in stark clarity as if she was there herself. Sometimes, she couldn’t remember a single detail beyond just the feeling of the dream.

It didn’t take very long for little Maria to go to her parents about her dreams and learn what they meant.

A soulmate.

Her soulmate.

That day Maria learned a very valuable lesson. The first of several about soulmates. Her father had a compass on the back of his hand pointing off into the distance. Her mother had a quote running across the back of her shoulder. They weren’t soulmates.

And yet, they loved each other just the same.

They taught Maria of love, the kind of love that didn’t need a perfect match to make it work.

It was a lesson Maria fully believed in until the day she found out she was pregnant and the man in her life walked out on her.

* * *

The second lesson Maria learned about soulmates she learned from the dreams.

Her soulmate’s parents had matching symbols on their biceps. They’d known since they were teenagers that they were meant to be together.

Except their ‘meant to be’ meant they never tried to make it work.

That lesson taught Maria the most valuable thing she’d need to know after six years of silence:  love may come easy, but holding on takes work.

* * *

That first night, after, Maria went to bed only from sheer exhaustion, from crying herself to sleep.

She hadn’t wanted to see it. Hadn’t even known if she’d see anything. She’d looked it up years ago - after her mother’s quote had changed from a rich black to a faint white - and knew that if it was true, if it was true it would be her final dream.

She didn’t want it to be true.

But she owed it to- 

She owed it to her to see what happened in the end.

For the next six years Maria’s nightmares would be based around what she dreamed that night.

_ Panic and adrenaline, a voice - her voice - talking with Dr Lawson over the comms. A burst of light shooting past the plane as the craft executed evasive maneuvers. _

_ Dr. Lawson’s voice. _

_ “I never should have let you come.” _

_ Sand and trees and impact. _

_ The sound of a gunshot and a blurry figure emerging from the smoke. _

_ An explosion. _

_ Rays of blue, and red, and a dozen other colors bleeding in between for a split second before darkness over took everything else. _

_ The feeling of being carried. _

* * *

For the next six years Maria lived her days as strong and fierce as she was able to. But that first week, oh that first week, she was broken.

Her dreams every night since were fuzzy, faded and strained. Like an out of focus camera in the wrong lighting for the filter. Any words that might have come through were nothing but faint static in an already blurry dream.

Every day she woke up more broken than before.

Missing in Action, presumed dead. No black box. No body. No public announcement, just a rushed cover up.

Just a charred piece of metal to remember her by and an order to clean out her soulmate’s belongings and take a week off.

She had no answer to little Monica’s question.

Maria knew this wasn’t like when her father’s compass stopped spinning. Everytime she tried to convince herself to let go she remembered the static in her dreams, the feeling of being carried. In the end, it was Monica’s words that made the most sense.

“You both always come back. Maybe it’s just gonna take her a little longer this time.”

* * *

Six years was by far more than Maria considered a little longer. In the end, that didn’t stop her from nearly having a panic attack when, for the first time in six years, her dreams came as more than just static.

A flash of pain, of hanging upside down.

Of green skin and pointy ears and-

Falling, falling, falling, 

Impact. Walking away without a scratch.

A name. Words that were in English, but made no sense to Maria

If she hugged Monica a little tighter that morning before her daughter left for school, well, she just needed a little extra grounding was all.

She spent the day wondering. Wondering about the bond going both ways. About sleep schedules and fog and static. She got her answer in the form of an engine turning off somewhere in her yard as she taught Monica all she knew about aircraft maintenance.

**_~fin~_ **


	4. Shouting Your Name Through Time & Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria had a name on each wrist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unbetad. Sorry for the delay. work kicked my arse the last few weeks with several days edging towards 17hr shifts (salaried so no, no overtime pay). Anyways, it's a little short but I like it as is. Next chapter is already written to be posted next weekend.

* * *

Chapter 4: Shouting Your Name Through Time & Space

Carol and Maria had met at the Academy. The first time they introduced themselves to each other their wrists burned. It was the sign of being soulmates. Everyone had at least one name etched on the inside of their wrist. You could meet dozens of people with the name on your wrist, but it would only burn for the one who was your soulmate.

Maria had a name on each wrist.

It wasn’t uncommon. About one in five people were born with multiple names. Sometimes, those people met all the names and form triads or quads. Sometimes, they would met one, and lose them, before meeting and having a second chance with the next.

What was uncommon was that the second name Maria bore was in a language no one knew.

No one, that is, except Dr. Lawson.

Maria and Carol had shown up for their interviews with the scientist and been shocked when half-way through the woman had frozen, eyes locked on where Maria’s sleeve had ridden up revealing her second name. Dr. Lawson had allowed them to interview together because they were soulmates. In that moment, her eyes had flicked between the two young pilots with wonder and hope shining brightly in them.

“Vers.”

When they’d simply stared at her in confusion she reached out, fingers hovering just over the name on Maria’s wrist.

“The name is Vers.”

Before either woman could do more than gape Dr. Lawson was standing, moving, talking rapidly as though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. She was telling them they had the job. She was telling them all about the job. She was telling them nothing about how she knew the language on Maria’s wrist.

* * *

Fast forward a few years and Maria’s silent, unspoken fear came true.

She was one of the those who received a second name because she would lose her first. 

Carol was gone. With her went Dr. Lawson, Maria’s only link to her second name. She had learned only a little from Dr. lawson about how she knew the language. That Dr. Lawson was a refugee, exiled from her own people for not believing in the war they were fighting. That Dr. Lawson was serious when she said their goal was to save lives and end wars, because the woman was tired of seeing bloodshed.

Maria didn’t know what happened on that flight.

There was no black box.

There were no bodies.

But Maria strongly suspected that Dr. Lawson’s past had caught up with her. That Dr. Lawson’s past had claimed Carol’s life as well as her own. It was the only logical reason for such a rushed cover up.

The suspicion chilled Maria to the bone. It made her wonder if she ever wanted to meet this Vers whose name resided on her other wrist. It made her worry about the kind of world she would be living in when she did.

* * *

“I'm- I'm not who you think I am.”

That was what she had said but, oh, Maria strongly doubted that. Even before the name was spoken, before her wrist burned, Maria knew.

Apparently the universe counted amnesia as losing a soulmate. Or at least, whatever it was that took her Carol and replaced her with this Vers.

This woman who moved and talked and acted like her Carol.

This woman who moved with unfamiliarity in a place she'd been before, who spoke of things Maria had never heard of, who could do things Maria had never dreamed either of them to be capable of.

This woman who had flinched and looked at her wrist when Maria first said her name.

* * *

Flashes. Bits and pieces.

Her Carol was in there. But so was Vers. Both were just two different versions of the same woman. A woman Maria loved no matter which name she went by.

Her best friend.

The strongest woman she knew.

Carol may have forgotten, but Maria would be damned if she didn't make sure Vers remembered.

* * *

It wasn't until that night, after everything was over, that Carol found her in the quiet and asked.

Asked about the name on her wrist and the scars that ran through it until it was illegible. Asked about the burning she had felt. Asked about the memories that had returned at the sensation.

When Maria showed her the names Carol - Vers - had frozen.

Shock filled her gaze at the Kree symbols on Maria's wrist. A tentative hand reached out to touch them, waiting for Maria's nod before actually doing so. Maria watched for the exact moment Vers’ gaze would become unfocused as bits of Carol floated back to the surface.

“This whole time.”

“That's right.” Maria kept her voice soft, uncertain which details came back to her soulmate but confident in her guess. After all, Carol had had her own fear over Maria having two marks when Carol herself only had one.

“This whole time, I've always been yours. Only yours no matter what form or name you took. There was never a second person for me. Just you.”

The sheer wonder in Carol's - Vers’ - gaze made Maria want to hold her close and remind her of all the love between them. Remind her that she wasn't alone, that she had a family and people who cared about her, that she didn't need to be afraid of losing Maria to some unknown.

Vers had been the unknown, but now Vers was known. Vers was Carol.

And Maria was never letting her go again, no matter which part of her was more prominent.

**_~fin~_ **


	5. The Words Between Galaxies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In honor of going to see Endgame in an hour, have this update early. Short and sappy.

* * *

Chapter 5: The Words Between Galaxies

For as long as humanity recorded history humans have had ink on their skin. Ink that formed symbols different for every language, every generation. These symbols represented the words spoken to one human by another. The words spoken by a soulmate.

Born with anywhere from none to dozens, the lines of symbols found on humans had no rhyme or reason. They could be platonic or romantic. They could all be from the same person at different stages of their life or they could all be different people. There is no known logic to it. The only truth is that every human was born with them and, once spoken, the color of the words changes, darkening or lightening depending on the skin tone of their host.

Maria has several.

The first line was spoken by another girl at the Academy. A blonde who she quickly became fast friends with. The second set she heard was said by the man would father her daughter Monica. She had another to hallmark the moment he walked out of her life too.

Her fourth set of words to change color were spoken by that same self-assured blonde from the Academy as they huddled together in a bathroom, lips pressed to collarbone and clothes disheveled.

The very next day she’d discover that the blonde - Carol - had a matching set of words to her own. A  _ “So you’re the dynamic duo.” _ spoken by their new boss, one Dr. Lawson.

* * *

For a while things were good.

Carol and her settled into their job as test pilots. Dr. Lawson proved to be an excellent mentor and teacher and - she suspected for Carol - mother figure. Monica grew up and out of diapers; her curiosity at the world quickly earning her the moniker “Lieutenant Trouble” from her Auntie Carol.

That was another thing that was good.

Between them her and Carol had plenty of baggage. They’d also known each other long enough  that they both knew they were in for the long haul, whether that was as best friends or something more. There was no pressure to put labels on anything. Not when the last fanatic trying to say certain soulmates were the best and only certain people deserved their soulmates had only been taken down some 40 odd years before.

So Auntie Carol it was.

At least until one of them decided they wanted to make things more official. To expose them to the risks defined as accepted-while-invisible. 

It was better than the out-right hated or feared some of their predecessors had. Plus, Maria had the shield of Monica’s birth father being two of her lines with several other lines still unsaid. Many never bothered to look beyond best friends knowing that. Maria didn’t blame them. 

It was safer for everyone that way.

* * *

_ “I’m- I’m not who you think I am.” _

Maria had always wondered who would say that, who would be mistaken for who and why it would matter. Not once in her wondering did she imagine the reality. It seemed she had three lines for Carol, even if the returned Carol who doesn’t yet know she is Carol.

It wasn’t until she saw Carol flinch and reach for the spot that Maria remembered reading  _ “Then who do you think you are?” _ on Carol’s skin.

* * *

She never expected  _ “Nice place you have here Captain.” _ to come from a complete stranger after she retired. Although, given the limited number of people alive who would want to talk to her about everything hidden behind stacks of Non-Disclosure Agreements, she supposed it made sense.

Only someone from an agency like Nick Fury’s SHIELD would care to know those details of her life.

Carol and Monica exchanging a line came as more of a surprise than it should have been to Maria. Considering they already had the christening of  _ “Lieutenant Trouble” _ paired with  _ “but Auntie!” _ Maria hadn’t considered they would need another.

She couldn’t help but watch from the porch as the two became reacquainted. If her hand drifted to where Monica’s first words were marked on the inside of her wrist no one would judge her for it.

It isn’t until they had landed after, that she hears one of Monica’s lines spoken by Fury. Of course Maria would know every line her own daughter has. She would have dismissed it out of hand as  _ “I promised I would.” _ was rather easy to be spoken and not matched if it hadn’t been followed by an excited squeal and rapid chatter from Monica on her line changing.

It was that moment that encouraged Maria to call the number on Fury’s card several months down the line when the ache of knowing but not knowing enough became too much.

The voice that answered the line is a woman’s and most certainly not who Maria was expecting to speak to. When her shoulder blade burned three minutes later she knew she had made the right choice. She wasn’t ready to leave Monica on her own completely, but her daughter was in middle school and had started to outgrow the small town they had settled in. The school system was one of the best, it had to be considering most of the parents were also the best.

Maria had started to outgrow their small home the moment she’d landed the quad jet, she just hadn’t known it at the time.

* * *

Maria was old and gray and wrinkled by the time her last set of words were spoken.

The soft rustle of curtains on a windless day told Maria who was there. Her hearing may have started to go but the creek of the porch steps and the screech of the screen door were still plenty of warning as her guest arrived. Any other year Maria would have stood to greet her with open arms, but this year she could barely find the strength to move a few steps at a time.

Before long Maria’s Captain stood nervous in the doorway to the living room.

Every after all these decades Carol barely looked a few years older.

Maria had known to expect it after helping Peggy through to the end and then helping Peggy’s Captain deal with the loss. She’d given Steve strict instructions on what to do the moment she’d passed. Instructions on how she expected him to be there for Carol, to keep Carol from running off.

Steve was a good man. He knew he owed Maria and Carol in turn for helping him and Peggy. He’d make sure Carol pulled through.

Fingertips brushing ever so gently against her cheek brought Maria back from her thoughts. For a moment her wandering mind was stilled, captured in the eyes of her first and last soulmate.

“You came.”

Carol smiled, all soft and warm. Calmer than when they were younger and had first met. When they still had everything to prove to no one but themselves.

_ “I promised I’d be here, for the end.” _

The burn across Maria’s collarbone was expected, but still she was weak enough that it was taxing. She had to close her eyes against the feeling. Sheer stubbornness to see Carol for as long as she could had her forcing her eyes open again. The words slipped out in a whisper, but it made them no less true.

_ “Love you, beyond the end.” _

Carol’s smile shook with tears. Maria’s own vision blurred as she watched Carol’s hand that wasn’t cradling Maria’s face move to her collarbone, pull the edge of Carol’s uniform down just enough Maria could see the where the ink was changing color.

“I love you too, to infinity and beyond.”

**_~fin~_ **


	6. Our Gift to the Universe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Maria was little and couldn't wait to figure out what type of soulbond she'd be given, the exchange of gifts wasn't one of her ideas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May continue this one if people want it, I just liked ending here. Next one-shot will probably be a while as I've barely got more than a few sentences written. This is barely edited.

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Chapter 6: Our Gift to the Universe

When Maria was little and couldn't wait to figure out what type of soulbond she'd be given, the exchange of gifts wasn't one of her ideas. In fact, it was one of the options Maria had skimmed over as a child. Once she was a teenager and had passed the age for the majority of soulbonds to be revealed her hope dwindled and she had no choice but to look into the bonds that were only triggered when you met your soulmate or mates.

The sharing of skills was one of them.

It's the start of another semester at the academy with a new roommate and a new training squadron and this time a small crying infant as Maria made the decision to screw the patriarchy and graduate as a mom. She hasn't really interacted with her new roommate much the first week - some blonde from the East Coast - but when Maria’s test scores jumped nearly 20% better than they were the year before, placing her as one of their classes top 10%, Maria knows which bond she has.

She starts to pay more attention to those around her.

Including her roommate, Cadet Danvers, someone Maria has never personally interacted with prior to the squadron changes that came with moving up a year at the academy.

* * *

It takes a few weeks.

It takes until the first time they get access to a kitchen that Maria knows for sure.

It takes until Carol “I can’t cook” Danvers make Maria’s favorite meal to taste from only a few hastily scribbled steps on a note.

* * *

For several years everything is good.

Even when Maria’s mental and physical scars have her struggling to function, Carol stands with her. Even with Carol’s temper gets her in trouble again and again, Maria stands with her. Even when Monica has them at wits end trying to maintain two full careers while raising their little Lieutenant, they stand by each other.

* * *

An explosion happens. 

Hundreds of miles away Maria Rambeau collapses in the middle of a conversation, little red and blue sparks arcing across her body. She sleeps for a week. When she wakes she's groggy, and that gives them enough time to make calls, for flights to be coordinated.

They tell her Monica is safe with her grandparents. They tell her she can't leave the room yet, that someone is coming to talk to her first. They tell her Dr. Lawson is dead. They tell her Carol is MIA presumed KIA.

No one is more surprised than Maria when sparks of energy arc from her and fry the medical equipment around her at the news. They agree to tell her what happened if she agrees to let them work with her in regards to her new... development. They claim she can't see Monica until she's safe.

Maria breaks down in earnest then.

She tells at them to leave the room, ribbons of power coming out to form rings around her. A subconscious barrier declaring a safe space inside for Maria.

Her daughter withheld from her.

Her mentor, one of the only people they worked with who was fully okay with the pair of them, dead.

Her best friend - her  _ wife _ \- gone. Missing. Taken.

For a long while Maria simply cried.

Once the tears had begun to dry her mind began to wonder. To take in the small arcs of energy surrounding her, coming off of her, coming  _ from _ her. She knew their source was Carol. She just didn't know how, didn't know what to do with that knowledge.

A knock on her door meant she didn't have to figure it out just yet.

It was a woman, older than Maria, wisps of gray showing in her hair. Her eyes were world weary, yet she carried herself with authority. When she spoke it was with understanding.

Aliens.

Powers beyond their understanding.

SHIELD.

When the woman was done Maria remained staring at her hands, watching the little arcs of energy flickering between them. There was no easy answer. There was no partner for her to turn to for advice either. After several minutes of silence Maria looked up.

The woman's eyes were gentle. They held a sad look in them, one that bore more understanding than any of the others who had come in before her to tell Maria bluntly that the world as she knew it was over. Maria looked at her and knew the stories of a different love and a different plane crash were true.

“Does SHIELD do part time?”

The woman's smile was small, and when she reached out a hand for one of Maria's the energy around it didn't hurt her.

“Welcome to SHIELD.”

* * *

That first year Maria stayed with Project Pegasus as she learned to use her powers better. True to her word the woman and the team of scientists brought in to study her were respectful, understanding. Once it was decided she had enough control Monica was allowed back with her and quickly became the team’s biggest fan.

At the end of the first year though, Maria could tell the team was running out of experiments to run, tests that they could do while respecting Maria's rights as a person. She made a phone call and presented her case.

By the end of the week she was signing a stack of Non Disclosure Agreements the height of her forearm and being given a practical manual on what to do if she ever accidentally reveals her ability to anyone. Once it's all said and done she gets on a plane with Monica and flies to their new home.

She had help finding it.

Only an hour drive from her parents, but with a larger yard tucked away from prying eyes so Maria could work on her end of the deal. Since the accident that took her soulmate Maria stayed out of the cockpit. While she loved flying, Monica came first and that meant nothing risky.

SHIELD was always in need of good mechanics. 

Maria was one of the best.

Once a month she'd spend a weekend at SHIELD headquarters practicing with her powers. Practice being a living battery and concentrating as much of the power as she could into her hand to from a narrow beam of power. 

The rest of the time Maria spent fixing up planes and other equipment SHIELD would drop off for her. On slow weeks she'd take private contracts to fix up display planes and collectors planes. After all, SHIELD could only give her the things that looked civilian enough any prying eyes wouldn't question where Maria got them from.

The only exception had been that first year, while she was still at Pegasus.

That first year when they had her working to repair the very craft that changed Maria's life irrevocably.

It hadn't taken Maria long to realize while she could repair the hull, the engine required something she didn't have. Several oaths later and the black box told her why. The black box she’d been asking to listen to for several months by that point.

After that Maria knew, knew just what her soulmate with a goddamn hero complex had done. It was then that Maria truly understood she'd probably never see her soulmate again. Not when there was no guarantee these aliens would treat Carol with the same respect Maria was granted.

Maria was well aware she could have woken up in a black site to never see her daughter again and likely never see the light of day again either. She knew she owed her freedom to the woman with understanding in her eyes. It was why she found a compromise with SHIELD instead of walking away entirely.

For the next five years the compromise worked just fine.

Monica got to see different parts of the country when she was allowed to come with on Maria's SHIELD trips. Maria gained a friend in the woman who had recruited her. Maria also gained insider knowledge to the realities of the world around them, the world beyond their little planet and just how far behind they were.

It was this knowledge and those connections that kept Maria from outright collapsing when a message came through on her SHIELD issued pager.

[ _ Found the source of your glow. _ ]

_**~fin~** _

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**Author's Note:**

> Comments and critiques welcome @standinshadowedsilence


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